What is discrimination?

There are four main types of discrimination: direct, indirect, victimisation and harassment, which are described as follows:  

Direct discrimination is when someone is treated less favourably than someone else because of a protected characteristic (sex, race and so on). For example, if a black member of staff is denied a promotion in favour of a while member of staff).

Indirect discrimination is where all staff are treated in the same way but a work policy or practice puts one group of workers at a disadvantage compared with others. For example, a policy that gives enhanced pay for certain shifts applies to all staff but may disadvantage women compared with men because they are more likely to have caring responsibilities that make it difficult for them to work those shifts.  

Victimisation is where a worker is treated unfairly because they have previously complained about discrimination at work or have given evidence for a colleague in a discrimination case.

Harassment is where a person at work engages in unwanted conduct that has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, degrading or humiliating environment for another worker.

There are also two forms of discrimination that relate only to disability, which are:

Discrimination arising from disability where someone is treated unfavourably because of something arising in consequence of their disability rather than the disability itself. For example, they may be subjected to disciplinary action or even dismissal because of frequent sickness absence that arise from their disability.  

Failure to make reasonable adjustments. Employers are under a duty to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace to remove a disadvantage faced by a worker because of their disability. With our workplaces becoming more diverse, our unions should too. Trade unions are best placed to lead the fight against discrimination and unfair conditions at work and to promote equality.

Having a workplace rep means that workers have someone to turn to if they feel they are being discriminated against. Union reps can take on grievances, and see these taken through to employment tribunals.

But tackling individual cases of discrimination doesn’t deal with the causes, whether those are bad bosses, other workers, or policies and procedures.

That’s where collective bargaining comes in. Through collective bargaining, unions can challenge the structures and policies that create unfair and unsafe workplaces.

Our aim is to create working environments that are safe and welcoming, and in which everyone is treated fairly.

Read more about discrimination and trade unions in our negotiators guide.